1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer and, more particularly, to a printer which selectively guides a plurality of different forms of recording media to a common printing section through a plurality of supply paths and delivers each selectively guided recording medium to a delivery section after making a recording on the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has recently become necessary to print on a surface of a special form of recording medium such as a compact disc or a recordable compact disc (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cCD(s)xe2x80x9d). Because the recording medium is special, a special supply path must be provided and a mechanism different from a general-purpose printer capable of handling cut paper is needed. It has heretofore been general practice to use a dedicated printer provided with a supply path suitable for such special recording medium. In contrast, a printer provided with supply paths for two or more kinds of recording media is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No.A-9-95021, and is provided with a switching mechanism for switching the supply paths for the different recording media.
The conventional construction, provided with a switching mechanism, has the related problems that the structure becomes complicated and costs increase because of the switching mechanism.
To solve these problems, the object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement in which a plurality of supply paths, for supplying a plurality of recording media having different thicknesses, are of a simple construction and a guide spring member for supporting the top surface of a thin recording medium at a predetermined height is disposed in the meeting portion of the plurality of supply paths. With this arrangement, it is possible to stably feed even a thin recording medium into a printing section and to obtain good print quality similar to that obtainable in the case of a thick recording medium. In addition, it is possible to realize in one printer unit a general-purpose printer capable of handling cut paper and a special printer capable of handling a special recording medium such as a CD, and it is possible to provide an inexpensive printer with a simple construction.
A printer according to the present invention comprises a first supply path for supplying a first recording medium, a second supply path for supplying a second recording medium thicker than the first recording medium, a printing section for printing on a recording medium supplied from the first supply path or the second supply path, and a delivery section for delivering the recording medium printed in the printing section. A guide spring member, which is movable up and down, is projected upstream of the printing section and in a meeting portion of the first supply path and the second supply path. The guide spring member serves to support a top surface of the first recording medium at a predetermined height.
The first supply path serves to supply a soft recording medium, while the second path serves to supply a rigid recording medium. The second supply path leads to the printing section in a flat state. The second supply path is brought into the flat state when the guide spring member is moved down while the rigid recording medium is being supplied.
Preferably, the guide spring member is made from a leaf spring or includes a plate-shaped guide member and a compression spring disposed on a bottom surface of the plate-shaped guide member.
The rigid recording medium has, for example, a disk-like shape, and is preferably supplied in the state of being mounted in a disk-shaped recess provided in a rectangular tray.
Preferably, the printer further comprises a position sensing device for sensing the recording medium when it passes in the vicinity of the guide spring member.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.